DOVER — Late Thursday morning, a Strafford County Superior courtroom took a brief recess while New Durham resident Christina Thomas requested a change of attorney in her ongoing alleged child abuse case.

Thomas, 33, of 214 Birch Hill Road, is facing a first-degree assault charge alleging she failed to provide proper nutrition to a child of a friend under her care. The child is now 9 years old and is alleged to have been starved and abused by Thomas, and her mother Peggy Starr, 53, when the child and his mother lived at Thomas' New Durham residence between August 2006 and April 2010. Thomas is out on personal recognizance bail along with her mother, who is set to start trial later this spring for her charge of second degree assault against the young boy.

On the third day of the trial, Thomas told Judge John M. Lewis she believed her defense attorney, Steven Keable, does not have a "positive attitude" in the case.

"A lot of it is I don't have an attorney with a positive attitude. I don't stand a chance," Thomas said. "He doesn't have a positive attitude."

Lewis argued if Thomas makes a transition at this stage, she would possibly have to give up her right to an attorney and represent herself. He asked her about her schooling - some college education, Thomas said - and encouraged her he believes Keable is doing a "fair job." He said attorney's are "not supposed to be (defendants') friend (s)."

"What I'm seeing is a professional attorney arguing the case quite vigorously and that's 's what the jury is seeing and you're sitting there, under a lot of stress," Lewis said, "but you need to understand that you're not going to be helping yourself in my judgement very much by what you're trying to do here."

The jury had yet to be seated as the defense deliberated. Lewis also said he is not willing to continue the case and urged Thomas to have a "heart to heart" with Keable during the recess.

After after an approximately 30-minute long recess, Thomas said she would like to stay with her attorney, Keable. Judge Lewis told her she may request a recess at any time in the trial deliberations to further consult with her attorney in the future.

With a television news outlet present for the court event today, Deputy Strafford County Attorney Alysia Cassotis requested the media not be allowed to film her current witness, Crystal Dufault, 31, who stayed at Thomas' home for four to five months starting in 2008. She began her testimony about "chaotic" living conditions in Thomas' house on Wednesday and is set to continue today.

Cassotis said Dufault suffered severe child abuse and testifying has been traumatic for her. Lewis did not uphold her request, with opposition from Keable.

A law class from Prospect Mountain High School also sat in court to learn from the court proceedings, a teacher aid, along with several family members and friends of both the defendant and alleged victims. Starr sat in the third pew back, whom Thoma has been turning around to smile at during much of the trial.

By Liz Markhlevskaya

lmark@fosters.com

NEW DURHAM — A woman who temporarily lived at the home where a child was allegedly starved and abused said she had nightmares from the young boy repeatedly screaming, “I hungry, I hungry” while locked in a dog kennel in the basement.

Wednesday was the second day of trial for Christina Thomas, 33, of 214 Birch Hill Road, who is facing a first-degree assault charge alleging she failed to provide proper nutrition to a child under her care. The alleged starvation and abuse occurred at her New Durham home between August 2006 and April 2010.

The child, now 9 years old, is currently in an open adoptive relationship with his biological mother and new family.

At Strafford County Superior Court on Wednesday, the child's mother, whose identify is not being revealed by Foster's, testified about her own abuse she suffered while living with Thomas.

Crystal Dufault, 31, who stayed at Thomas' home for four to five months starting in 2008, described the living conditions as “very chaotic, out of control, and scary.”

Dufault got emotional when asked about the alleged victim, who, according to his mother's testimony, weighed 23 pounds at the age of 6.

During her months-long stay at Thomas' home, Dufault said she only saw the boy eat a couple pieces of toast. In her testimony, she recalled going to the basement one day to do laundry and hearing a whimpering sound. She then saw the boy in a locked dog kennel, yelling “I hungry” repeatedly, she said.

“I had nightmares about it,” said Dufault.

When she took him out of the kennel and brought him upstairs, Thomas yelled at her and put the boy back in the kennel, according to Dufault's testimony.

After that incident, Dufault testified she saw the boy in the dog kennel several times. When asked by Deputy County Attorney Alysia Cassotis who fed the boy, Dufault answered, “nobody,” and that at the time, she was under impression the boy had a digestive problem or another health issue that was being taken care of by doctors.

“I didn't know that he was being starved,” she said.

During her testimony, Dufault said she witnessed Thomas' mother, Peggy Starr, 55, repeatedly beating the boy with a spatula, which ended up breaking, after the boy was complaining of hunger. According to the boy's mother, the child has a scar on his leg because of that episode.

Dufault said that during that time, Thomas was standing nearby, saying, “If you didn't act like a little puke all the time, maybe you could go upstairs and have some toast with mommy.”

In another instance, Thomas allegedly made the young boy eat his own vomit, and had her five children stand around him and “pick on him,” calling him offensive nicknames, because of his vomiting.

The mother of the alleged victim, who testified to having a personality disorder and a type of depression, said, “All the time I wish I had done things differently.”

While she lived at Thomas' home during the time the alleged abuse was taking place, the boy's mother said she herself participated in the abuse when told to do so by Thomas and Starr.

If she didn't inflict punishment on her young son, she would be beaten, she testified.

“It just became about survival. I found out it was much easier to do what I was told, or at least try to do what I was told,” said the boy's mother.

The boy's mother said she, Thomas, and Starr would at times use a dog leash to chain the young boy to the top of his bunk bed, tying one end to the bed post and another to his ankle, as punishment. As another form of punishment, the boy was kept in the dog kennel.

At times, the boy would soil himself while in the kennel, and to clean him off, Starr one time placed the boy naked in a brook during wintertime. Another time she made him sit naked on a snowbank as a way to clean him off, the boy's mother testified.

She said chaining her son to the bed or placing him in a kennel was a type of punishment given when he didn't do what he was told or was complaining about hunger. She said the boy talked “all the time” about hunger and wanting food.

“If he cried about being hungry, then no, he didn't get fed,” said the boy's mother. She also said at times her son would go “a couple days without eating” as punishment.

The boy's mother said as a result of the alleged ongoing abuse, she herself was charged with failure to protect, and was put on a child abuse registry for seven years.

Speaking about her own participation in the alleged abuse of the boy, she said, “I feel like a terrible mom, and it's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.”

In his cross-examination of the mother, Thomas' defense attorney Steve Keable, questioned why she and her son stayed at Thomas' home if their experience there was that horrific.

The woman said she was convinced she would be sent to a mental institution if she left Thomas' home, and that her son would be put in foster care. She said she was hoping to become a better person and to please Thomas, so that the abuse would stop. She also said that at the time, she thought her son living with Thomas and Starr would be a better option for him than foster care.

“I knew it was wrong what was done, I just didn't have a course of action,” said the boy's mother. “I was afraid of going into a mental institution.”

Dufault said the relationship between the child's mother and Thomas felt like something out of a movie.

“(The child's mother) wasn't human, she wasn't allowed to have emotions, she wasn't allowed to have opinions,” said Dufault.

She confirmed the boys' mother's testimony in saying that Thomas only allowed the boy's mother to eat after she climbed stairs for exercise.

During their testimonies, both Dufault and the boy's mother said all the cupboards, the refrigerator, and the freezer were locked to prevent the boy's mother from getting to the food.

“I would eat constantly because I was hungry,” said the boy's mother.

Dufault said she first met Thomas in a bar in 2008, and a few days later, Thomas offered her to stay at her New Durham home.

“She was the first person in my life that made me feel like I belonged,” said Dufault. “(Thomas) was my knight in shining armor ... She would pick people up and help them fix their problems.”

Dufault said she feels like she's betraying Thomas by testifying against her, and that “I feel like I owe it to her to lie,” but she also said it's important that her testimony is presented at trial, for the alleged victim's sake.

The young boy's mother said after her son went to foster care, she was surprised to see him gaining weight.

“He seemed like he was doing awesome,” she said. “I noticed they were feeding him everything that we weren't.”

The trial for Thomas, which is expected to last for two to three weeks, continues today.

During opening remarks on Tuesday, the first day of Thomas' trial, the prosecution stated many adults living in the house will testify that they saw these horrendous acts carried out at Thomas' home, while Keable stated the people who will testify are those who have “an ax to grind” against Thomas.

Thomas is currently free on $10,000 personal recognizance bail.

Starr, of 265 Kings Highway, was also charged in connection to the case, and has a final pretrial conference scheduled for April. She is currently free on $20,000 personal recognizance bail.

As part of their bail conditions, Starr and Thomas are prohibited from having contact with the alleged victims or with children under the age of 16.